


All Cars Go To Heaven

by klutzy34



Series: Season 7 [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 7x04, Episode Tag, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 07:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10715046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzy34/pseuds/klutzy34
Summary: In the aftermath of Steve's eventful first encounter with Dr. Gray, Charlie makes an observation that hits close to home.





	All Cars Go To Heaven

Like father, like daughter. 

The nudging of his shoulder drew Steve out of his deep, exhausted sleep. Sprawled on Danny’s couch, waiting for his plane to get in at Honolulu Airport from a very, very brief trip to New Jersey, the last thing he remembered was mentally chiding cartoon Captain America on a tactical idea while Charlie puttered around and Grace curled up in an armchair, checking her phone periodically. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he winced as the wound between his shoulders pulled tight and squinted up at Grace, holding out a pill in one hand, a glass of water in the other. 

With a quiet grunt meant to be a ‘thank you’, Steve took both, tossing the pill back and then draining the glass. Grace settled on the edge of the couch down near his feet after taking the glass. “Dad’s going to yell, you know,” she said, giving her uncle an affectionately sympathetic look as she pat his foot. Steve cringed and drew the couch pillow closer, attempting to bury his face in it. He could easily do with a few more hours of sleep, his battered body protesting even being awake at all. 

“I can’t wait,” Steve mumbled and god help him, he really couldn’t. The angry, worried, sometimes profanity-laced, affectionately insulting, Jersey-tinged rants were a thing of blessed beauty in his life some days, a reminder that he was alive, that someone actually gave a damn about when he drew his last breath. There were more of those these days, enough that he needed two hands to count them all. When the hell had that happened? 

Nearby, Charlie made the sound of tires squealing and Steve idly waited for the crash as the two toy cars collided like every boy his age enjoyed doing, but it never came. Instead, he heard the five year old speak. “You are really late! I missed you! I missed you too!” His little voice changed pitch back and forth and curious, Steve cracked open an eye to see what he was up to.

On the coffee table, Charlie had a pickup truck and a sports car facing each other. The colors were all wrong, the car entirely too sporty for his father’s salary and taste. He wouldn’t have thought a thing about it if it hadn’t been for the childish dialogue, Charlie moving each car as it ‘spoke’. 

Grace glanced up from her phone, frowning. “What are you doing, weirdo?” she asked, sliding down onto the floor and reaching out to grab a dump truck that was close to sliding off the edge. 

“Uncle Steve’s truck is with Danno’s car,” Charlie informed her simply. Steve felt his breath hitch in his throat. “That’s what Mommy said.” He made a sputtering sound, weaving truck and car over the coffee table together. “When you go to Heaven, you see the people you love again.” 

Steve could feel Grace’s gaze slide back towards him, then quickly back to Charlie. “Cars don’t go to Heaven, silly.” She reached out to ruffle his hair, but Charlie pulled back, hugging the vehicles to his chest. 

“They did. They love each other like Danno and Uncle,” Charlie protested quietly. Steve squeezed both eyes shut, wondering if it was too late to feign sleep and act as if he hadn’t hear the conversation, that it didn’t just shoot straight to his heart. 

“Yeeeeah, I think that might be enough. Look, Charlie, Spiderman!” Grace said quickly, redirecting her brother’s short attention span back to the TV. Steve heard the clatter of plastic and metal and opened an eye again to see Charlie staring raptly up at the TV while Grace reached over to pick the two toy vehicles up. Quietly, she brought them in to hold against her chest, hugging them tightly, and let out a shaky sigh. Steve’s eyes quickly shut again and he felt Grace look at him a moment later. 

Her head rest against his knees when she seemed satisfied that he was asleep and it drew him back to the days when she was little and would climb up on the couch between him and Danny, resting her head on one set of knees, feet on the other, content with the world. His fingers itched to reach out and gently rest on her head as he’d once done, a soothing, reassuring gesture. Instead, he heard her draw in a shaky breath. 

“Please don’t join them anytime soon,” she whispered softly, meant for no one’s ears, and it took every ounce of willpower Steve had not to scoop her up in his arms, hug her tightly, and reassure her that as long as it was within his power, they would be there until they were old, gray, and disturbing nursing home peace.


End file.
